The Choice
by Mulder's Girl
Summary: After the season 4 finale, the crew finds hope. This is my version of what happened.
1. The End

Title: The Choice

Author: Hot4Harper01

Disclaimer: I don't own Beka or the others, yada yada yada. But I do own the guy she's talking to.

Summary: Beka faces an impossible choice.

Rating: PG-13 for violence to come...

She hadn't wanted to meet with him, but he'd given her no choice. How he had gotten a ship more powerful than the Andromeda was beyond her, but he had.

"Beka Valentine, we meet again." She gave him a disgusted look.

"Years ago you gave me a choice. You knew that either way, it would leave me an empty shell. It is my turn for revenge."

She cringed. "Just one more bad guy I added to the world. Believe me, knowing I made you who you are is punishment enough." She thought for a minute. "You used to be a good kid."

She said softly.

"Yeah, well things change. Here is your choice. You will murder Dylan Hunt, Telemachus Rhade, or Seamus Harper."

She went pale. "Like hell I will!"

"You may not. But if you don't, I will terminate them, in addition to Trance Gemini, and the avatar you call Rommie. It is your choice: one or all. Know this- if you leave, or choose to kill yourself instead, I will carry out my threat. You have one week."

And she knew he could, and he would.


	2. Choosing Bonds

Chapter 2  
  
She didn't know what she was going to do. This was impossible, but she couldn't let them all die.  
  
She knew it couldn't be Harper. He was her little brother, he looked to her to protect him. She almost cried at the thought.  
  
Dylan... she knew he would willingly die to protect them. But she couldn't kill him... she just couldn't. He believed in her, and he had come to mean more to her than she'd like to admit. "Yeah, I love him. So?" she muttered out loud. But now was no time to tell him her feelings... after she did what she knew she had to do, he'd kick her off of the Andromeda. She could never tell him why, or what she had done to Alamar. She shook her head. If only she hadn't.... but there was nothing to be done about it.  
  
Rhade was her friend, but he was the only option left. But how could she bring herself to do it?  
  
"Just remember, Valentine, you're protecting your friends. And killing one of them."  
  
There was no way she would ever forgive herself, or that anyone else would. But it had to be done. She went to find Rhade.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
"Beka, I need to talk to you."  
  
"Just the person I was looking for." she muttered.  
  
"Can you come into my quarters? There's something I need to tell you."  
  
"Of course." she almost started to cry.  
  
They walked in to Rhade's room.  
  
"Look, Beka, don't say anything until I'm done. I know that Nietzcheans aren't supposed to fall in love with humans... but you are extraordinary. I lo-"  
  
"Rhade." she whispered, and hugged him. He never saw the knife, but he felt it as it plunged into his back.  
  
"I'm sorry." Her tears fell to the floor with his body.


	3. The Beginning

Chapter 3  
  
Holo- Rommie popped up.  
  
"Beka, what are you doing?"  
  
Rommie's avatar walked in. She wasn't sure whether to assist Rhade or comfort Beka. The look on her face showed more anguish than she'd ever seen.  
  
"I'm sorry Rommie, I had to." With that she ran to the Maru.  
  
"Beka, wait!" Dylan ran up behind her. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"  
  
"Saving your life." She whispered, and ran onto her ship and left.  
  
"Trance, will he make it?"  
  
" I don't know. He may... but I'm seeing many possible futures." And she walked out.  
  
"At least there's hope, but I need to know why the hell she did this!" Dylan yelled, obviously pissed off. He walked to his quarters.  
  
"Rommie, do you have any idea why?"  
  
"No, but you need to watch this, Dylan."  
  
She played the security file.  
  
"He loved her?"  
  
"Apparently so."  
  
"I still don't understand..."  
  
"I'm sure Beka had a reason for what she did. I just don't know what it was."


	4. Pain Reborn

Chapter 4  
  
"Good work, Valentine." he sneered. "So, where will you go now that your family hates you?"  
  
She just glared at him.  
  
FLASH  
  
She was high on flash, and she needed more materials. This was her last dose.  
  
"You give me all of your money and all of those chemicals, or you see your father die."  
  
"Please, no lady!" the ten year old child cried.  
  
"What will it be?"  
  
"Please, he's sick!"  
  
"Hand over the damn money!"  
  
"Okay, okay!" he gave her everything.  
  
She smiled. "It was nice doing buisiness with you, kid." she threw his father at him.  
  
ALAMAR'S POV  
  
I don't know who that lady was. But she took everything. We have nothing, and daddy is sick. I have to take care of him.  
  
He told himself that with everyone he stole from, everyone he had to kill just to eat, and get his father's medical supplies. Just a child, looking out for his parent. That's all. But she would pay...


	5. Seeing Truths

XXXXXXXXXX  
  
FLASH  
  
She didn't want to do it, but she knew she had to. It was the only way she and Rafe were going to get out of there alive.  
  
"Why the hell did he leave his two kids to get out of here for themselves? And why did he leave those chemicals laying there... my decision would be so easy if I didn't have the solution lying right there in front of me."  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
She was headed back. Right where this all started, back on the Salana drift. Her dad left her and Rafe to fend for themselves, against all of the debtors, while he went and stole some more money that would go straight to the materials to make flash. She had been going for so long, days without sleep. And it was either do it or die...  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
back on the Andromeda  
  
"It's been weeks, Rommie. Where is she?" he asked from his comfy desk chair. "We have to find her. I need a reason." And more softly, "I need her."  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Oh, nothing Rommie." She looked at him quizzically and let it go.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
Trance walked back to Medical, greeted by the sight of Rhade trying to sit up.  
  
"You know you're not supposed to do that!" She said forcefully.  
  
"I need to find Beka."  
  
"Telemachus Rhade, no matter how much I love her, she tried to kill you. And you will die if you do not lay back down, because I will kill you. Down, now!" He reluctantly consented.  
  
"Only until I'm healed. Then I'm going."  
  
"Dylan and Rommie are already on it. Harper won't even talk, believe me, this bothers them enough to make them want to find her. Not to mention that the whole crew is going crazy without her. WE WILL FIND HER. Now go to sleep."  
  
"I can't until I know where she is and if she's okay."  
  
"You can, and you will." She held up a needle. He didn't say anything, and she took that as a yes.  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
Harper's POV  
  
How could this have happened? How could she have tried to kill Rhade? And why? Where had she gone? So many questions, and she wasn't here to answer them. He was always the one in trouble, she was the one to save him. But she wasn't even here for him to try to pay her back. It hurt so much. His big sister didn't even trust him to tell her what was wrong, why she had to do what she did. And now, he didn't even know if he'd ever see her again. Life wasn't even worth living... he thought as he eyed the gauss gun sitting next to him.


	6. All over again

Dylan couldn't wait any longer. "Rommie, we are going to find her NOW!"  
  
"Ummm... isn't that what we've been trying to do for the past month?"  
  
"AAAAHHHHHH!!!!" he threw a paperweight at the wall. Rommie just raised her eyebrow and left. As the door swung shut, a guilty-looking Harper walked in.  
  
"Harper, whatever you did, I'm not in the mood for it."  
  
"Well, um, as much as you're going to hate me, I think you'll want to hear this one.  
  
He just gave him a "this better be good" look.  
  
"Well ya see, one of my biggest fears was always getting separated from Beka. So just in case, I built us a sort of walkie-talkie. No matter where we are, we'll be able to reach each other through this thing. I press this button here and say something, and it starts to buzz on her end until she picks it up and presses the button. We can talk from there."  
  
Dylan looked ready to kill. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"  
  
"Because I built it years before we ever met you and I'd completely forgotten about it until about five minutes ago. Besides, there's no guarantee it will still work or that she'll still have it."  
  
"It's worth a shot. How fast can you try?"  
  
"Give me about 10 minutes."  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
He paced on the Hercules for what seemed to be hours, muttering to himself. "She didn't do it. She didn't kill him. Dammit!"  
He called a crewmember in. "Get me Beka Valentine!"  
  
"Aye, sir."  
  
That tracking device he'd slipped onto her shirt had paid off after all. She came in.  
  
"What do you want? I did my job, I can never speak to my family again. Shouldn't you be happy?"  
  
"I would be if this was the case."  
  
Beka looked confused. "What do you mean by that?"  
  
"Telemachus Rhade was stabbed one month ago. However, Trance Gemini barely managed to pull him through."  
  
Beka managed a half-smile at this, until she heard what he had to say.  
  
"One week, or my old threat takes action. You did not fulfill your end of the bargain."  
  
She turned pale. "Valentine out."  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
What could she do? She just didn't know anymore... she couldn't go back, that much she knew. But she had to. Why? In order to kill someone she thought of as family and who had just admitted that he was in love with her. Joy. She was going crazy, she was even hearing crazy noises in her head. But wait, was that in her head? She got up and walked around the Maru, and pulled out an odd object from under the pilot's chair.  
  
"No, this couldn't be..." she pressed the button.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Beka! Thank god! I thought I'd never see you again!" She could hear the relief in the little engineer's voice.  
  
"Harper, I can't talk."  
  
"Beka, please, I'm lost without you! Come back!"  
  
"After what happened, I'm not sure that anyone wants me back."  
  
"Trust me, we do! We want to know why you did it, and I'm sure you'll be in some trouble. But we need you back."  
  
"Okay Harper, here's the deal. I'll meet you and only you on Talamasca drift in three days. 6:00. Deal?"  
  
"You got it boss!"  
  
"Valentine out."  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
He just sat and thought. What this woman had done made him who he was today. Because she chose to be a flash addict, he was forced into being a thief. A regular, petty thief. But he had gotten good at it. He had learned so much from so many people, picked up so many trades. That's how he acquired this ship, he had stolen all the parts and built it from scrach. More powerful than the Andromeda. The Hercules was beautiful. And he would finally get his revenge on Beka Valentine.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
Harper's POV  
  
He had wanted to. He had wanted to so bad. The gun just sat in front of him for hours. But then he remembered... there may be a way. And that way had worked. He was going to see Beka in three days. He just had to be able to help her with whatever it was, he was determined. And it gave him so much hope to know that she trusted him...


	7. Finding Hope

She paced on the Maru. Could she tell him? Could she explain the situation to him? She felt like she had to, there was no other way. Maybe he would be able to help. He was, after all, a genius. But who could ever come up with a way around this? Besides, he would hate her if she told him. It was her own fault she was in this mess, no one else's. She was the one who had taken the flash, she was the reason Alamar's father was dead. It was her, all her. If only her dad wouldn't have left them there... but it was still her choice. That's what all of this was, a load of bad choices, one after the other. And not trusting her family would be yet another one. But would she be able to do it without Alamar knowing?  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
Talamasca drift. Home of, well... almost no one. Harper had seen maybe three people on this pea-sized excuse for a drift. "Well, I see why she wanted to meet here, it would be impossible not to spot one another." he mumbled to himself as he felt a hand go over his mouth.  
  
"Beka! Jesus, you scared the crap out of me!"  
  
"Harper, be quiet!" she whispered harshly. His only response was to hug her.  
  
"I've missed you, Seamus." they sat in silence for a few minutes, glad to be in each other's company.  
  
"Harper, I'm in a bad situation. Someone I hurt... before I met you... is now a very powerful person. He gave me a choice. I was to kill either you, Rhade, or Dylan. I can't say more, other than now he knows Rhade lived and I have one week to finish the job.  
  
Harper was aghast. "How could anyone do that to you? We'll just blast him, Rommie can take him out."  
  
"That's just the thing, she can't. One of his rockets could destroy us. Just one, that's all it would take. I told you, he's powerful."  
  
"Well, it's a good thing you have your friendly neighborhood genius at hand. I think I may have a plan."  
  
She looked at him skeptically. "And what would this plan be?"  
  
"Easy, really. We get Trance to develop a medicine that induces a death-like state. I'm sure she can do that. We have him thinking you did what he wants and he wins, then I develop a super powerful bomb, and POW! he's gone."  
  
She laughed. "Harper, as much as I'd love that to work, there are too many ways it could go wrong."  
  
"It's worth a try, isn't it? What other options do you have?"  
  
"You're serious."  
  
"Completely."  
  
"Alright, Seamus, let's go!"


End file.
